Sherlock's University Journey
by Vilentiel
Summary: Sherlock found University dull. Until he met one very interesting fellow student - Miss Astoria Burrow. Despite how much he thinks he knows about her, there's always something that intrigues him further. Does he finally have a friend? Or someone more?
1. Chapter 1

It was only the second month that she had spent a Uni and already Astoria wasn't sure what to do with herself in her spare time. She lay on her bed with a cigarette in one hand and a half drunk bottle of red wine in the other. The smoke was drifting out of a window in her room, which also happened to let in a cool refreshing breeze. It was 3 o'clock in the afternoon and she had nothing to do. She decided to take her cigarette outside and walk around the grounds for a while, gazing at the trees in the park would keep her occupied for a while and she could always watch the people that passed her and guess what they were thinking. She put the bottle on the table, grabbed her black coat and strolled outside. She received a few odd looks from people, but she was used to that by now, her appearance often seemed rather morbid-looking and people constantly asked her if she was ill.

She had long jet-black hair, pale skin, a rather thin physique, a gaunt face and deep blue eyes. So people presumed that she was on death's row. What probably didn't help the matter was that she nearly always wore dark clothing and she was rather partial to dark eye make-up. Whilst she was at school she used to get called names, people would call her a freak, a Goth and plenty of other stereotypes and nasty names. She tried to ignore it and always told herself that she was used to it all by now.

She brought the cigarette to her lips whilst she found a seat on a park bench. As she was blowing out the smoke she leant back slightly and closed her eyes.

"You wouldn't happen to have another cigarette would you?" A deep voice asked from her left.

Astoria jumped at the sound of the voice and opened her eyes to find a young man sitting next to her on the bench. He was pale and gaunt looking too, although he had a mop of dark brown curls on his head and startlingly icy blue eyes.

"Err, yes I do. Would you like one?" Astoria asked politely, although she wasn't entirely sure why she was offering this man one of her cigarettes.

"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't." He replied curtly.

Astoria was a little taken aback, he seemed rather rude, but strangely she didn't mind.

"Alright." She said and took out a cigarette before handing it to him. "I'm afraid I don't have a lighter, sorry."

"I have one." He said, "Thank you."

He took the cigarette from my pale fingers with his own, slender white ones. He lit the cigarette and began smoking it, although he showed no sign of wanting to move.

"So, was it Bi-polar or Dysthymia?" He asked suddenly.

"W-what?" Astoria stuttered.

"Your mental illness, which is it? Bi-polar disorder or Dysthymia?" He asked again.

"Dysthymia." She replied, "How did you know?"

She eyed him suspiciously.

The man gave a cocky smile and said, "Well, you have a long term mental illness, it's not Schizophrenia or Psychosis and you don't have OCD. You don't take very good care of yourself, so you're not worried about your health, which means its likely that its some kind of depression, its unlikely that you would be outside in public if you had major depression, besides that only lasts for a few months, a year maximum. You've had mental health issues for much longer than that, so that led to Bi-polar or Dysthymia. Of course they've diagnosed you wrong, but that's irrelevant."

"I still don't know how you knew I had a mental illness." She said nervously, "I don't even know who you are."

"You're pale, which suggests you don't get much sun-light, you stay inside as much as possible, this suggests a lack of desire for social situations, common in people suffering with depression. You're quite thin and you're tired, so you don't take care of yourself, your health isn't important to you, this could be because you're a 'care-free student', more likely because you don't care if you get seriously ill and potentially die, you're smoking emphasises this point. You're not anorexic, otherwise you wouldn't drink alcohol, there are a lot of calories in alcohol, but there's a slight stain to your lips, you've had red wine recently, in large quantities. That suggests that your lack of eating is due to a loss in appetite, also a common symptom of depression. " He said.

Astoria stared at him, astonished. "You still haven't told me your name."

"Sherlock Holmes, studying Criminology and Forensic science." He said offering his hand.

She shook it and said, "Astoria Burrow, studying Criminology and Psychology."

"I know," He replied, "You're in my Criminology class."

"Oh." Astoria looked at him curiously. "Why did you say they diagnosed me wrongly?"

"You're depression get's worse than most Dysthymia cases usually do, you have a strong morbid curiosity, attempted suicide many times. You also have phases where you feel like you're losing control, unusual bouts of anger, hatred and bitterness, mostly directed towards yourself. And other times you feel completely empty and detached from everything. I think it's a lot more than Dysthymia." Sherlock looked rather pleased with himself.

Astoria turned away from him and wiped her eyes with her sleeve, she didn't want to cry in front of this strange and brutally honest man. If anyone else had said all of that to her, her whole life, she would have been really hurt, but somehow she didn't mind that much, it just stung to hear it out loud. To know someone had uncovered the truth about her.

"Ah, I didn't mean to…" Sherlock began.

"It's alright," Astoria replied. "That was quite clever, what you did. How did you know all of that?"

"I simply observed you, from your behaviour in class, to now." Sherlock said.

"How did you know about… about the other stuff though?" Astoria asked, referring to the losing control point that Sherlock made.

"There are signs." He said.

"Right. I don't want to know." She replied.

Astoria composed herself. "But really, that was quite astonishing."

"Really?" Sherlock asked.

Astoria turned to face him again and he looked genuinely intrigued.

"Yes, I've never seen anyone do that before." Astoria admitted, "It was marvellous… just don't tell anyone else about all of that though, please."

"I have no-one else to tell." Sherlock replied.

"What do you mean?" She asked, her soft blue eyes locking with his icy ones. "Don't you have a girlfriend? Or any friends?"

"No." He replied. "You're the only one who seems to appreciate my skill."

"That's a shame, it's amazing. You could go far with that."

"Go where?" He asked curiously.

"I don't know. You could be a detective or something." She said trying to think of something plausible where that level of observation would be necessary.

"The police are dull." Sherlock said absently.

"What about a private detective?" She suggested.

"And what? Find out whose husband is having an affair with whom? Boring. I want something more interesting, like a serial killer."

Astoria thought for a moment, "Why not be a detective on a free-lance basis?"

Sherlock raised an eyebrow, "Isn't that what private detective's are?"

"Yes, but as you implied earlier most private detectives deal with things like affairs, whereas if you labelled yourself as a free-lance detective, you could help the police with serial killers and things like that. Then you wouldn't have to always comply with the police but you would still get the interesting cases." Astoria said.

"Do those even exist?" Sherlock asked.

"I don't know. If not, you could invent the position. Become the first." Astoria smiled.

Sherlock smiled back, "Maybe you're right. I could be a kind of consulting detective."

"Exactly." Astoria replied. "You'd be good at that."

Astoria suddenly realised that she had just suggested an entire career path for someone she'd only just met. She would never have just talked like that to anyone, somehow Sherlock was different. He found her interesting, she could tell. And she most definitely found him interesting.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning Astoria pulled on one of her old hoodies before she made her way into her living area. She yawned and looked up only to find a man sitting on her sofa. She screamed and jumped back before she realised who it was.

"My God, Sherlock! How did you get in here?" She said trying to calm herself.

Sherlock leant back on the sofa casually, "Through the door, the way one normally enters a room."

"Yes," Astoria said angrily, "But the door was locked!"

"Hardly. It took me less than a minute to pick the lock. Not really very secure." He replied absently flicking through a book that was on the table.

"How did you know this was my room?" Astoria asked, still trying to keep herself together.

"I asked around." He said as if that explained everything.

Astoria decided to try a different approach, "Okay, _why_ are you here?"

"I'm _Bored._" He said.

Suddenly he stood up and strode up to Astoria, his long coat swished behind him.

"And what am I supposed to do about that?" Astoria asked, trying not to feel intimidated by the man who stood in front of her.

He raised an eyebrow before he wondered over to her book shelf and began examining her collection. "What do you do when you're bored?"

"I…" Astoria began but she soon stopped herself. She drank alcohol, smoked a cigarette and tired to make the world disappear, but she could hardly tell him that. "I read." She finally replied.

He turned to face her with an expression that clearly stated _'I don't believe you'_ but he didn't say anything.

"What do you usually do?" She asked curiously.

"I go to Scotland Yard and root around for an interesting case." He replied.

"They let you do that?" Astoria asked, self consciously wrapping her arms around herself, she was very aware that she was in her pyjamas.

"They need the help they can get." He replied.

Suddenly Astoria remembered what she had said the day before, "So when I suggested you became a detective, you kind of already are?"

Sherlock looked at her and smiled slightly, "Yes that was a surprisingly pertinent suggestion of yours."

"Surprisingly?" Astoria questioned, her lips turned upward.

Sherlock's eye glinted with what she understood as a cross between amusement and excitement. "Will you come with me?"

"To London? Now?" She asked.

"Yes, now." He frowned.

"But, I'm not dressed, and how are we going to get there? I don't have a car." Astoria replied nervously, she hardly knew Sherlock and he was already suggesting that she accompanied him on a trip to London to solve a crime.

"So get dressed, and then we'll take a train." Sherlock replied.

"A train? That will take a couple of hours, Sherlock that's going to cost loads." Astoria said.

"I'll pay." He replied.

"Are… Are you sure?" She asked.

"Yes, we'll make a day of it. Now hurry up." He said.

"I hardly know you." Astoria said quietly.

Sherlock locked eyes with her. She felt compelled to join him; he seemed to really want her company, which was something she wasn't particularly used to. Why did she trust him so quickly? Hadn't he already admitted he had no friends? Maybe there was a reason for that, shouldn't she try and be careful? Yet there was something so captivating about him. He was filling a hole in her life and it felt good. _He_ made her feel good.

"I'll try and be quick." She replied and rushed into her room to get ready.

"Wear something warm." He called after her. "And no heels."

She rushed to get ready and make herself look a bit presentable, she decided to wear a pair of blank skinny jeans, a t-shirt and a cardigan with her long black coat over the top. She remembered that Sherlock said no heels, which she imagined meant that they were going to do a large amount of walking, so she chose to wear her comfortable black biker boots. After washing her face and pulling her hair into a decent hairstyle, she quickly put on a bit of make-up and made her way out to Sherlock who was still in her living room. He was sat on her sofa with her laptop.

Once she walked in he closed it and put it on the table.

"I've booked the tickets." He said as he glanced over her.

"How did you get onto my laptop?" Astoria asked.

"Not hard to guess your password. Are you warm enough?" He asked.

"Yes, I just need to grab this." She picked up her long scarf and wound it round her neck loosely. She decided to overlook the laptop incident for now.

"Right let's go." He said as he walked out of the door.

It wasn't long before we were on the train enduring the long journey from Oxford to London. Astoria took this time to reflect on the last two days with Sherlock, he seemed to have taken over her life, he broke into her rooms, he hacked into her laptop and had managed to persuade her to join him in harassing the staff at Scotland Yard. She wasn't sure whether he was actually allowed to just waltz in and ask for a case, but somehow he seemed very confident. She wasn't really sure why she trusted him and she knew that she wouldn't just trust anyone like this. Sherlock just had a way of making her trust him without thinking.

Astoria realised that Sherlock was staring at her.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Nothing." He said and turned his head to look out the window.

"Why were you staring at me?"

"You interest me." He said bluntly.

"I interest you?" She asked, a little suspicious of what that meant.

"Yes, you're very enigmatic." He replied.

"I am?"

Sherlock eye's met hers again. He seemed to see right through her, she should have found it unnerving, but she didn't.

"You have many admirers yet you don't want to see any of them." He leant in as he spoke to her.

"I don't have admirers." Astoria laughed nervously.

"You do. They find you very attractive." He said.

Astoria gulped, was that what this was, was he some sort of stalker and he was trying to seduce her?

"Do you?" she asked.

"I…" Sherlock was caught off guard, "You're very beautiful… but I'm not… I mean, that's not why I asked you to come with me."

"Oh." Astoria was relieved, "Why did you ask me to come with you then?"

"Like I said, you interest me." Sherlock said.

"What did you mean by 'you have admirers'?" Astoria asked.

"There are many male members of the common room who would like to sleep with you." Sherlock turned his attention to his phone.

Astoria was horrified. What was Sherlock trying to insinuate?

"I'm not going to sleep with you just because you're taking me out for the day." She said clearly.

Sherlock looked up from his phone. "I wasn't suggesting you were."

Astoria put her hands in her pockets and cleared her throat. "Right. Glad we cleared that up."

Sherlock frowned, "I'm not like them. Has it occurred to you that I might be interested in intellectual company and conversation rather than physical pleasure? I want you to help me with a case, not jump into bed with me."

Again their eyes locked.

"Okay. Good. That's what I thought this arrangement was. Despite the fact that I've had no experience in solving cases at all."

At this Sherlock smiled. "You'll do fine."


	3. Chapter 3

The train journey passed quicker than Astoria thought it would. The young pair of students made their way to Scotland Yard. Astoria stayed close to Sherlock as they walked in, she didn't want to get lost and thrown out. They building was busy, police constables were rushing about their daily business, Sherlock and Astoria made their way to the reception desk.

"How can I help?" The receptionist asked.

"We're here to see Detective Inspector Campbell and Sergeant Lestrade." Sherlock told her.

"And your name please?" She asked.

"Sherlock Holmes." He replied.

The receptionist smiled politely, "Okay, could wait over there please. I'll let them know you're here." She indicated to a few empty seats by the wall.

Once they were seated, Astoria leaned over slightly so that she could whisper in Sherlock's ear. "So, you do this a lot do you?"

Sherlock's lip twitched upwards, "Occasionally."

"Right." Astoria replied.

He was a strange man, but she liked that. She wasn't exactly normal herself, and being with someone even more eccentric made her feel acceptable. After all Sherlock wasn't trying to get her back to his bedroom, he was interested in her, not just her body. She felt worth something in his eyes. So what that he helps out the police in gruesome cases? He wasn't a pervert like the rest of the guys in the common room. He cared about what she had to say, he wanted to know her opinion on things and was sort of a gentleman. Okay, he didn't flatter her with compliments and he often said things that were so blunt they were downright rude, but he paid for her train ticket, he walked next to her protectively and he even helped her off the train. Sherlock Holmes was one of a kind.

It wasn't long before a man came striding towards them with a smile on his face.

"Glad you could make it Sherlock." He smiled and shook hands with Sherlock.

"Lestrade." He acknowledged.

Astoria stood next to Sherlock.

"Who's this?" Lestrade asked Sherlock, referring to Astoria.

"My friend, Astoria Burrow, she goes to Uni with me." Sherlock said.

"Friend?" Lestrade questioned.

Astoria looked surprised too. She was Sherlock's friend? Sure she had agreed to travel to London with him and solve a crime, she had overlooked his break-in and she gave him a cigarette, but did that classify her as his friend?

"Yes." Sherlock replied.

Lestrade looked a little dubious but he held out his hand nonetheless. Astoria shook it and smiled politely.

"Well come up and have a look, you'll like this one." Lestrade motioned for them to follow him up the stairs.

They were led into a large room full of desks and people busily filing paper and talking on the phone. Lestrade took them to the end of the room where there was a door, leading to a small office, inside sat a rather plump, friendly looking man and he smiled as they walked in. There was a placard on the desk that read 'Detective Inspector Campbell'.

"Ah, Sherlock, you got my text." Campbell said. "Who's this pretty young thing?"

Astoria ignored his question, she was still thinking about what he had just said. _'Sherlock, you got my text'. _Sherlock had been asked to come? He said he was bored and that he felt like going to Scotland Yard, he failed to mention that they'd asked him to. What was she here for then? Why did Sherlock want her to come with him? If it wasn't spontaneous? And before, Lestrade had said '_Glad you could make it'_, like he was expecting Sherlock.

"This is Astoria Burrow, my friend from University." Sherlock said.

"Your friend?" Campbell questioned.

Why was everyone so surprised that Sherlock had a friend? Was it that much of a big deal? What did he do, kill his other friends?

Sherlock wasn't in the least bit amused. "Yes, my friend. Now what's the case?" He scowled.

"Yes, Lestrade, bring out the files would you?" Campbell leant back in his chair, "So Astoria, how long have you know Sherlock?"

Astoria nervously replied, "Erm, about two days…"

Campbell looked surprised, "Woah, and he's already dragged you over here?"

"Err… yes." Astoria said looking over to Sherlock but he wasn't interested in the conversation.

"Here you are, sir." Lestrade put the papers on the Campbell's desk.

"Thanks, Lestrade." He said cheerily. "Well, here we are." Campbell flicked through the papers before waving at Sherlock and Astoria to take a seat, which they both did.

"Arthur Holder, was taken under arrest yesterday morning on suspicion of theft." Campbell began. "His father was in the possession of a Beryl Coronet, which had been lent to him by someone wishes to take out a loan, you know a collateral-backed loan…" Campbell was about to explain what a collateral-backed loan was, when Sherlock interrupted.

"Someone needs a loan, so leave a valuable item in this case the Coronet as security, to prove that they will pay the loan back." He said, more for Astoria's benefit than anyone else's.

"Right, yes." Campbell agreed, "The Coronet was in a safe and Arthur was found with it in the middle of the night, with three of the gem's missing."

"He was found with it." Sherlock's brow furrowed, "But you said he was only arrested on suspicion of theft, you lot would say that 'found holding it' would be pretty conclusive evidence. Although of course I disagree."

"Yes, well, we would have thought of it as conclusive, except Arthur refused to say anything at all upon arrest. Any way, that's all background information and rather irrelevant, the more pressing issue is, where are the missing gems? The Coronet is a very valuable artefact." Campbell said as he took a sip from his tea.

Astoria looked at Sherlock who was deep in thought. Was the kind of thing he did all the time? Why did the police need him? And why hadn't he told her that he had been asked to come?

"Is there any leads?" Sherlock asked.

"None-whatsoever. But it must be in the house somewhere, Arthur hasn't been out by himself. The whole house has been searched and we can't find anything." Campbell replied.

There was a pause in the office.

"So, will you help?" Lestrade asked.

"I'll need all the information you can give me, and I'll need to visit the house." Sherlock announced and stood up.

Campbell smiled, "Good man."


	4. Chapter 4

Astoria sat in the taxi next to Sherlock, she had a pile of folders on her lap that Sherlock had asked her to look over once they reached the house. Astoria was a little perplexed by the whole experience, after all not many people could say that they spent the day helping the police in an investigation.

"Do you think Arthur was the one who stole the gems?" Astoria asked.

"No." Sherlock replied.

"Right." Astoria sighed, he wasn't in a very sociable mood, in fact he seemed to be thinking so hard, Astoria could swear that she could see the cogs turning in his mind. Although that did make her wonder why she was here at all, he seemed to be in completely in control, did he enjoy making her feel very intellectually insignificant?

They sat in silence for the rest of the ride, and eventually the taxi pulled up at a large country house. Sherlock paid the taxi and the two of them climbed out of the taxi and started walking on the gravel drive towards the front door.

"It's so beautiful." Astoria exclaimed, she was in awe of the house's wonderful architecture.

Sherlock didn't reply.

Once they made their way to the oak door, Sherlock knocked sharply and then turned to Astoria.

"Keep your eye out for anything that might be of interest to the case." He told her.

"Alright." Astoria replied, not really sure exactly what he meant by that.

A short, portly man opened the door; he looked incredulously at the pair of students.

"You must be Mr. Holder, I am Sherlock Holmes, and this is Astoria Burrow, we are here to investigate the missing gems." Sherlock said authoritatively.

Mr Holder's red face brightened, "Oh yes, I was informed you were coming. I am very grateful for your help. Please do come in."

Sherlock stepped inside and Astoria followed, she looked around the inside of the house, and glanced at the family photos on the wall.

"Might I have a look at the gardens?" Sherlock asked Mr Holder.

"Oh, Of course. Wouldn't you like a drink, tea perhaps?" Mr Holder asked.

"I'm sure Astoria would like one, perhaps you could tell her in your own words exactly what happened while I take a look around." Sherlock said.

Astoria was a little taken aback at how Sherlock seemed to be ordering her around. "Yes, tea would be lovely thanks. Sherlock can I have a word before you go?" Astoria asked sweetly.

"I'll make the tea, do come into the kitchen when you've finished." Mr Holder said and the plodded into the next room.

"What?" Sherlock asked, "I need to see the surroundings."

Astoria glared at him. "I'm not stupid and I'm most certainly not someone you can just order around."

"I need you to find out what you can from him, while I check for any footprints outside." Sherlock said. "And I do not think you are stupid, nor someone to be ordered around."

"Right. Well then. You could at least try to be less rude about it." Astoria said.

"Okay." Sherlock replied, looking her in the eyes. "You want to say something else."

Astoria gulped, "It's just… I don't know what I'm doing; this is the first time I've done anything like this."

Sherlock clasped her shoulder with one hand "Just ask him questions about the incident and ask him about his family. You'll do fine."

"That's the second time you've said that to me." Astoria said quietly.

"That's because I know it's true. Why would I choose you if I didn't think you were capable?" Sherlock replied in an equally hushed tone.

Astoria nodded slightly and Sherlock took off. She didn't even bother to ask him how he knew where to go.

She spent the next hour sitting at the kitchen table, drinking tea and asking Mr Holder questions. He was an incredibly dull man, but Astoria tried to stay focused, she couldn't help but feel that something he said might be of the greatest importance later on.

Mr Holder had a niece, Mary, living with him, they also have a cleaner who comes every week day called Lucy Parr. Other than Lucy the only other regular guest is one of Mr Holder's business partners and a friend of Arthur's, one Mr George Burnwell. Astoria wrote all the information she could down on a piece of paper and slipped it into one of the folder's.

Just then a girl, around the same age as Astoria walked in, her eyes were red and she looked rather drained. Astoria presumed her to be Mary. And her assumption was soon confirmed.

"Mary, are you alright?" Mr Holder asked her.

"I don't think Arthur stole the gems." Mary said, "You have to get them to release him."

"Mary, what brought this on?" Mr Holder asked.

"I… It's just that it's not something that Arthur would do." Mary looked like she was about to burst into tears again.

Just then Sherlock walked in, he quickly surveyed the scene.

"You must be Mary. I'm Sherlock Holmes." He said and held out his hand. Mary shook it timidly before she sat next to her Uncle.

"Find anything?" Astoria asked.

Sherlock turned towards her. "Plenty."

"Please, Mr Holmes, you have to prove my cousin's innocence." Mary pleaded.

Sherlock swept across the room and sat next to Astoria.

"Oh I quite agree that Arthur is innocent." He replied.

Astoria passed across her notes to Sherlock and he had a brief look through them.

"Would you both agree that all the doors and windows were locked the night before and the morning after the theft?" Sherlock asked.

"Yes." Mr Holder said, and Mary nodded in agreement.

"And the only other person with keys to the house is the cleaner Lucy?"

"Yes." Mr Holder replied again. "But Lucy isn't the type to steal anything."

"Although," Mary began nervously, Sherlock nodded for her to continue. "She did have a boyfriend that sometimes came round, and it is possible that she could have overheard Uncle talking about the Coronet…"

Sherlock knew what she was implying; she was trying to shift the blame from her cousin and onto Lucy. Astoria turned to look at him, but again he was thoroughly lost in thought.

"I think it's time we took a look at the Coronet in question." Sherlock announced.


	5. Chapter 5

They all made their way upstairs to a small room that looked fairly well secured. Mr Holder unlocked the door and strode over to a safe in the corner of the room; he opened it and passed the Coronet to Sherlock.

Sherlock looked over it briefly.

"It's quite strong." Sherlock observed.

"Yes, and that's why it's worth so much, its good quality." Mr Holder informed them.

Astoria noticed the beautifully carvings that were etched into the Coronet, it was delicately designed and despite the missing gems she couldn't help but admire it.

"Much too strong to break single-handedly." Sherlock noted and as if to prove his point he attempted to snap the Coronet.

"NO!" Mr Holder shouted, but Sherlock stopped and held it up to examine it.

"See, not broken." Sherlock said.

Astoria breathed in deeply, what was he trying to suggest?

"So Arthur didn't break it." Astoria said.

"No. After all, if he had Mr Holder and Mary would have heard a large snap, which neither of you did." Sherlock said indicating for Mary and Mr Holder to correct him if he was wrong. But as he expected, neither of them said anything.

Sherlock handed the Coronet back to Mr Holder who was very grateful.

"So who did it then? And why didn't Arthur protest his innocence?" Astoria asked Sherlock.

Sherlock's lips upturned slightly, "Exactly."

Suddenly he turned and walked out the room calling over his shoulder, "Just having another look outside."

Astoria spent the next fifteen minutes asking Mary if there was anything else she could say, but she was utterly useless, the girl either had something to hide, or was an idiot. And Astoria couldn't be sure which was more likely.

It wasn't long before Sherlock came back.

"Astoria, let's go. I've seen everything I need to see." Sherlock said.

"Alright." Astoria said nervously, she didn't feel that she knew enough at all but she followed him out the house.

"I'll see you tomorrow at 9:00 Mr Holder. Do you know the Hilton Hotel in central London?" Sherlock asked just before they stepped out the door.

Mr Holder looked a little taken aback. "Y…Yes I'll see you then shall I?"

"If you could." Sherlock replied. "Astoria." He motioned for her to follow him.

Astoria gave the bewildered looking couple a polite smile before rushing after Sherlock into a taxi. As soon as she sat down she frowned slightly.

"When did this taxi get here, it can't be the same one, I saw it leave?" Astoria asked as the taxi pulled out of the drive way.

"I arranged it whilst I was outside." Sherlock informed her.

Astoria nodded before turning to look at him.

"What?" He asked.

"Where do I start?" Astoria replied.

Sherlock sighed which could easily have been taken to mean that he was irritated but a glint in his eye suggested otherwise. He was preparing himself for the questions she was bound to ask.

"First of all, how can you have seen everything you need to see? Have you solved it already?" Astoria asked.

"You chose the wrong premise, that's two questions." Sherlock said.

Astoria glared at him.

"Yes, well I had a look round the outside of the house, but I have almost solved the case." Sherlock replied.

"Right. So why the Hilton? And why tomorrow?" Astoria asked.

"Again, two questions." Sherlock smirked but Astoria just rolled her eyes.

"I chose the Hilton, because it is clean, pleasant, and I doubted you would want to go far that early in the morning." Sherlock explained, he was about to continued but Astoria intervened.

"Not go far? Sherlock, it's an hour by train from Oxford!" Astoria huffed although she was slightly amused by his reasoning.

"Yes, but you won't be staying in Oxford tonight. I've booked us a room in the hotel, hence why it would be convenient for us to meet Mr Holder there. Also I chose tomorrow because I have things I need to do before then." Sherlock replied as if that was all entirely obvious.

"I see." Astoria replied and turned to look out the window. Suddenly she turned back to Sherlock as she realised what he had just said. "What do you mean you've booked us a room? I can't stay in London tonight. I've got to get back to my work. Besides I can't afford to spend a night at Hilton…And when you say 'room' you mean it as in 'room' singular don't you? As in, us, sharing a room?"

Sherlock just flashed her a grin.

"I'm not staying in a room with you." Astoria said resolutely.

"I didn't mean like _that._" Sherlock said. "The room would purely be a place for me to come back to whilst I'm not busy. You'd be the only person sleeping there. I can't sleep whilst I'm on a case. And I'll pay for the room, don't worry. I'm also certain that a little time away from Oxford won't do you any harm."

Astoria wasn't quite sure what to say.

"You don't need to pay for everything you know." She managed to say.

Sherlock looked at her, "But I have more money, thus it would be more logical for me to pay. Besides my brother does love to fill up my bank account even though I rarely use it."

"You have a brother?" Astoria asked.

"Yes, Mycroft. He's extremely interfering." Sherlock said bitterly.

"Oh." Astoria replied. "And what did you mean? About the room, that you're only going to use it to come back to when you're not busy? What are you doing?"

"Ah. Plenty of things." Sherlock said before he suddenly changed the topic, "What did you think of Mary?"

"Erm." Astoria was caught a little off guard. "Well she was either hiding something or she's really stupid."

Sherlock chuckled.

"Sorry, that was a bit mean." Astoria smiled.

"No, no. You're quite right."

"Why did you want to know what I thought? You met her too." Astoria said.

Sherlock pondered this for a moment before answering. "Yes, but as I deduce facts about people, similarly you deduce people."

"What?" Astoria asked, completely astounded by what he was saying.

"That's what made you catch my eye. You're different. Just as I can read about people's lives from their clothes, you can read their emotions through their actions and words. You're very good at it, but you don't realise. I think with some training you could be exceptional, and invaluable to me on cases." Sherlock said truthfully.

Astoria blushed, "I suppose you're going to train me then."

"Of course."

**-Authors Note-**

**Sorry it's a bit short everyone, but I hope to put up a new chapter very soon. Hope you all like it, and please review!**


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